Education

Castlemont High Students Prepare for Trip to Vietnam and Cambodia

Published

6 years ago

January 3, 2019

Shown are social studies teacher Jonathan Guy (top row, second from right) and stShown are social studies teacher Jonathan Guy (top row, second from right) and students who belong to the Pacific Bridge Club at Castlemont High School. Students are wearing cancer awareness T-shirts.

Everyone loves a field trip; museums take on new appeal to those who might not visit them otherwise; historical sights and trips to City Council meetings are very attractive to most students and often have a lasting impact on students.
Castlemont High School Economics and Government teacher Jonathan Guy is pushing this kind of hands-on experience to a higher level with his effort to take 35 students to Vietnam and Cambodia for two weeks after a similar successful trip last spring to China with a group of 16 boys.
Students chose these locations after studying a map of Asia and the Middle East.
Guy himself has lived in China and speaks Mandarin, at about a “6th or 7th grade level,” he says.
His wife has family in Cambodia. He first developed an interest in China when taking a Chinese history class while attending Cal State East Bay. He began teaching Western Culture in Beijing at the Anhue University College of Economics, spending three years there before returning to the Bay Area.
After taking a job in the Oakland Unified School District, the idea came to him to take students abroad to a place he knew well. But beyond that, Guy said, he felt students needed more than just a chance to travel.
“When I was growing up (in Pittsburgh), I had role models,” but some of his friends, whose fathers were absent, died violently or wound up incarcerated, he said. “I felt that students needed to step up their game. What better way to do that than having an experience abroad?”
With that in mind, he created the Pacific Bridge Club, (PBC) to “use community events, culture building, and traveling as avenues (to allow) our youth to have a foreign experience of traveling to developing countries so that they can return with a different outlook on life to improve their lives and our communities,” according to the group’s mission statement.
After the trip to China last spring (2018), he saw almost every one of the students who went on that trip change in positive ways. Guy said he saw a certain wisdom emerge.
To participate in the club, students must maintain a minimum standard of behavior throughout their classes; including no more than three detentions in one semester, remaining on track to graduate and maintaining a minimum 2.0 average, as well as refraining from oppressive language and attending meetings.
The meetings begin with a setting of the norms, around respect, attitude and focus; as students read each one aloud. The day this reporter met with them, almost all were wearing their pink cancer awareness Tshirts that are part of the work of the PBC; to each month raise awareness about a different social issue or cause.
The overseas trip is the culmination of a nearly year-long program of discussion, community engagement projects and mandatory meeting attendance every Tuesday and Thursday.
Students must demonstrate they can work together. Since beginning in August, students have worked on raising awareness for sickle cell anemia, police brutality and cancer.
Some of the young people have never been on an airplane or out of the U.S.
On the trip last school year, students were chaperoned by other staff, including Assistant Principal Michael Scott, Digital Arts teacher Nathan Burks and Restorative Justice coordinator Frankie Navarro.
Students were encouraged to be on their best behavior. They were asked: “Who are you representing?” How does it reflect on your family?”
Angela, a senior at CHS, said her main reason for wanting to be part of PBC is because I think it’s important for young people to be a part of something bigger themselves, and helping other people.”
Another girl, Monday, also a senior, said, “I’m a new student at Castlemont; before I came here, I was getting in a lot of conflict and trouble; Mr. Guy told me about the opportunity, what they do and why and how they do it…It just really inspired me to do something positive with my life.”
Senior JP (John Paul) mentioned both the China trip and a subsequent trip to visit family in the Philippines. “I came back with a deep sense of humility,” he said, referring to where his grandmother lives not far from homeless encampments of entire families.
Senior Rufino, who went on the China trip noted that his travels “changed my perspective on how people act; respect is seen differently in different cultures, it made me think about things, treating people with more respect.”
For more information or to support the upcoming trip of Castlemont High School students to Cambodia and Vietnam, go to Pacific Bridge Club or Mr. Guy’s Classroom

Debora Gordon

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Activism

California Holds the Line on DEI as Trump Administration Threatens School Funding

The conflict began on Feb. 14, when Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that DEI-related programs in public schools could violate federal civil rights law. The letter, which cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-conscious admissions, ordered schools to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, scholarships, hiring, discipline, and student programming.

Published

14 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Joe W. Bowers Jr
California Black Media

California education leaders are pushing back against the Trump administration’s directive to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in its K-12 public schools — despite threats to take away billions in federal funding.

The conflict began on Feb. 14, when Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), issued a “Dear Colleague” letter warning that DEI-related programs in public schools could violate federal civil rights law. The letter, which cited Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the 2023 Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which ended race-conscious admissions, ordered schools to eliminate race-based considerations in areas such as admissions, scholarships, hiring, discipline, and student programming.

According to Trainor, “DEI programs discriminate against one group of Americans to favor another.”

On April 3, the DOE escalated the pressure, sending a follow-up letter to states demanding that every local educational agency (LEA) certify — within 10 business days — that they were not using federal funds to support “illegal DEI.” The certification requirement, tied to continued federal aid, raised the stakes for California, which receives more than $16 billion annually in federal education funding.

So far, California has refused to comply with the DOE order.

“There is nothing in state or federal law that outlaws the broad concepts of ‘diversity,’ ‘equity,’ or ‘inclusion,’” wrote David Schapira, California’s Chief Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, in an April 4 letter to superintendents and charter school administrators. Schapira noted that all of California’s more than 1,000 traditional public school districts submit Title VI compliance assurances annually and are subject to regular oversight by the state and the federal government.

In a formal response to the DOE on April 11, the California Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond collectively rejected the certification demand, calling it vague, legally unsupported, and procedurally improper.

“California and its nearly 2,000 LEAs (including traditional public schools and charter schools) have already provided the requisite guarantee that its programs and services are, and will be, in compliance with Title VI and its implementing regulation,” the letter says.

Thurmond added in a statement, “Today, California affirmed existing and continued compliance with federal laws while we stay the course to move the needle for all students. As our responses to the United States Department of Education state and as the plain text of state and federal laws affirm, there is nothing unlawful about broad core values such as diversity, equity and inclusion. I am proud of our students, educators and school communities who continue to focus on teaching and learning, despite federal actions intended to distract and disrupt.”

California officials say that the federal government cannot change existing civil rights enforcement standards without going through formal rule-making procedures, which require public notice and comment.

Other states are taking a similar approach. In a letter to the DOE, Daniel Morton-Bentley, deputy commissioner and counsel for the New York State Education Department, wrote, “We understand that the current administration seeks to censor anything it deems ‘diversity, equity & inclusion.’ But there are no federal or State laws prohibiting the principles of DEI.”

Oakland Post

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Asm. Corey Jackson Proposes Safe Parking for Homeless College Students Sleeping in Cars

Assemblymember Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), is the author of AB 90, which would require community colleges and California State University campuses to create overnight parking programs where students can sleep safely in their vehicles. With one in four community college students in California experiencing homelessness in the past year, Jackson says the state must act urgently.

Published

15 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

Assemblymember Corey Jackson. File photo.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

As California’s housing crisis continues to impact students, new legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 90, promises to allow college students without stable housing to sleep in their cars on campus, offering a stark but practical solution aimed at immediate relief.

“This just deals with the harsh realities that we find ourselves in,” he said at a recent hearing.

The bill passed its first committee vote and is gaining attention as housing affordability remains a top concern across the state. California rents are more than 30% above the national average, and long waitlists for student housing have left thousands in limbo. CSU reported more than 4,000 students on its housing waitlist last year.

Supporters stress that the bill is not a long-term solution, but a humane step toward helping students who have no other place to go. A successful pilot program at Long Beach City College has already shown that safe, supervised overnight parking can work, giving students access to restrooms, Wi-Fi, and a secure environment.

However, the CSU and community college systems oppose the bill, citing funding concerns. Critics also worry about safety and oversight. But Jackson and student advocates argue the crisis demands bold action.

“If we know students are already sleeping in their cars, why not help them do it safely?” said Ivan Hernandez, president of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.

Oakland Post

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Newsom Fights Back as AmeriCorps Shutdown Threatens Vital Services in Black Communities

“When wildfires devastated L.A. earlier this year, it was AmeriCorps members out there helping families recover,” Gov. Newsom said when he announced the lawsuit on April 17. “And now the federal government wants to pull the plug? We’re not having it.”

Published

17 hours ago

April 28, 2025

Oakland Post

California for All College Corps.

By Bo Tefu
California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing the federal government over its decision to dismantle AmeriCorps, a move that puts essential frontline services in Black and Brown communities across California at risk, the Governor’s office said.

From tutoring students and mentoring foster youth to disaster recovery and community rebuilding, AmeriCorps has been a backbone of support for many communities across California.

“When wildfires devastated L.A. earlier this year, it was AmeriCorps members out there helping families recover,” Newsom said when he announced the lawsuit on April 17. “And now the federal government wants to pull the plug? We’re not having it.”

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under the Trump administration is behind the rollback, which Newsom calls “a middle finger to volunteers.”

Meanwhile, Newsom’s office announced that the state is expanding the California Service Corps, the nation’s largest state-run service program.

AmeriCorps has provided pathways for thousands of young people to gain job experience, give back, and uplift underserved neighborhoods. Last year alone, over 6,000 members across the state logged 4.4 million hours, tutoring more than 73,000 students, planting trees, supporting foster youth, and helping fire-impacted families.

The California Service Corps includes four paid branches: the #CaliforniansForAll College Corps, Youth Service Corps, California Climate Action Corps, and AmeriCorps California. Together, they’re larger than the Peace Corps and are working on everything from academic recovery to climate justice.

“DOGE’s actions aren’t about making government work better. They are about making communities weaker,” said GO-Serve Director Josh Fryday.

“These actions will dismantle vital lifelines in communities across California. AmeriCorps members are out in the field teaching children to read, supporting seniors and helping families recover after disasters. AmeriCorps is not bureaucracy; it’s boots on the ground,” he said.